Cleveland Sports Forum

I'll assume he's a smart young man who has another career path ahead of him. Good luck Dr? Atty? Prof? Sen? Hartson

Looking toward the winter Top 10/30 lists, BA's will be out in a couple weeks, I've copied the prospect write-ups for our very young outfielders from mlb.com.


The decision to sign free agent Edwin Encarnacion last offseason left the Indians without a first-round Draft pick in 2017. The Tribe still managed to land a first-round-caliber talent with their first overall pick, however, selecting New York prep outfielder Quentin Holmes, arguably the fastest player in his class, in the second round, and then signing him away from a Mississippi State commitment with a $988,970 bonus.

Quentin Holmes possesses elite, 80-grade speed. Over the summer, he consistently clocked in with some of the best 60-yard-dash times, and also showed he knows how to use that speed on both sides of the ball. He's a major basestealing threat and he can cover a lot of ground in center field. While he still has much to learn, the New Yorker's hit tool isn't bad and he finds the barrel a bit more consistently than fellow Northeasterner Garrett Whitley, a former first-round pick, did. There is strength to be added to his 6-foot-1 frame, an athletic body some feel is also the best in this class, so there might be some power to come. Whether Holmes reaches his lofty ceiling will depend on the development of his hit tool in the coming years. If it comes enough, Holmes could be the kind of dynamic leadoff hitter teams covet, but rarely find.

In his first season, he hit .182/220/289. A long, long way to go to prove himself. His 80 speed yielded all of 5 stolen bases. [vastly overrated by mlb.com as our No. 6 prospect; but I can't tell if these are post-season ratings or not]

Here's the Will Benson write-up. I was pleased with his improvement over the course of last summer, MLB.com rates him our No. 8

Benson endeared himself to scouts with his loud tools while playing for USA Baseball's gold medal-winning squad in the 18U World Cup in Japan. As a senior, he batted .454 with eight home runs and 41 RBIs and led The Westminster School to a Georgia 3-A championship, the Wildcats' first title since 1975. Targeting offensive upside, the Indians selected Benson, a Duke commit, with the No. 14 overall pick in June, and then saved nearly $500,000 by signing him for $2.5 million. He struggled at times in the Rookie Arizona League during his pro debut but still showed the ability to impact games in a variety of ways, finishing second on the team in doubles (10), home runs (6), walks (22) and stolen bases (10).

Benson's bat speed and strength give him well-above-average raw power from the left side of the plate, and he already shows the ability to get to it during games. He's at his best when he stays short to the ball and uses the whole field, and the Indians have worked to get him into a better position to hit. And while strikeouts may always be a part of his game, Benson impressed club officials during his pro debut with his ability and willingness to coax walks.

Benson is a standout athlete with slightly above-average speed, although he's likely to lose a step or two as he fills out physically. It's also why Benson, a center fielder in high school, is best suited to play right field in pro ball, where he profiles as an average defender with a plus arm. Benson has the tools to develop into a middle-of-the-order hitter, but he may require extra time to refine his skills in the Minor Leagues.

[Finished this season with 10 doubles, triples, 8 homers and 41 walks for a 248/347/475 line. With steady improvement month to month:
June 211/250/289
July 227/333/387
Aug 240/387/560
Sept 357/438/1000 (4 games)

I like this guy, he's only rated No. 23, NOT a 5-tooler since he's not a baserunner, but has long long range promise


The second-youngest player in the 2017 Draft class, Rodriguez [didn't] celebrate his 18th birthday until November. That youth, along with his highly projectable frame and loud but raw tools, put him firmly on the Indians' radar, and the club was thrilled to land the Puerto Rican prep in the third round.

Scouts rave about Rodriguez's athleticism and projectable 6-foot-3 frame, one that leaves room for him to add considerable strength in the coming years. Once he's done so, the switch-hitting Rodriguez could offer plus raw power, though not before shortening the length of his swing and refining his overall hitting mechanics. Defensively, Rodriguez has a cannon for an arm that receives plus grades from evaluators and profiles as a clean fit in right field.

Rodriguez is raw and will need time to develop his game in the Minor Leagues, but the overall package offers club officials plenty on which to dream.

250/381/333 in his debut as a 17 year old. For a kid that young, he had great patience at the plate, drawing 21 walks in 117 appearances.
June: 100/182/100
July: 182/282/303
Aug/S:321/470/396 Last month he drew 15 walks and struck out 11 times

All 3 of those kids could be long-term development projects and I promise not to give up on any of them until they reach age 22. If any one makes it, that will be a success.

Former Tribe Minor Leaguers on the transaction wire:

Joey Wendle DFA'd by Oakland. He was the small price we paid for Brandon Moss. One of those modestly talented 2nd basemen who usually peak at Class A.
"Wendle has spent the vast majority of his A’s tenure with their Triple-A affiliate and slashed .285/.325/.441 across 1,654 plate appearances at that level. He made his big league debut in 2016 during a 104-PA showing and added another 14 plate trips last season. All told, Wendle has hit a less-than-stellar .266/.305/.339 as a member of the A’s, with whom he has lined up solely at second base."

Jared Goedert announced as hitting coach for Rangers' Spokane team, his third season as a coach. Jared totaled 102 homers in his Tribe minor league career and 21 more before he retired.

BA prepares for the Rule5 draft, which they acknowledge is really not very significant, but how can minor league followers disregard it? They published a very lengthy list of potential draftees, including the standard Rule 5 categories of:
Hard throwers
Situational lefties
Speedy outfielders
utility infielders
injured prospects [see: Santander, Anthony in 2016]
who are the most likely to get picked
and assorted other candidates.

Only Indians player on the list is Kaminsky in the category "former 1st round picks". He pitched one game last year and spent the rest on the DL.
Also noted was ex-Indian minor league Feyereisan who went in the Miller deal: much more likely to be picked than Kaminsky, he's among the "hard throwing relievers".

Perhaps the Indians have some relief candidate in mind, as partial motivation for dealing Armstrong yesterday.

And the draft is history.

Indians lose Jordan Milbrath a 27 year old righty. In 2017 at Lynchburg 2.03 with 34 K in 27 innings; at Akron 3.90 29 K in 30 IP. Career ERA 4.53, Career WHIP 1.458, Career K/IP 0.88.

Indians pass.

Big name taken in the 3rd round: Jose Mesa Jr. by Baltimore from NYY

Exciting stuff.

Still waiting for the minor league Rule 5: these are guys who weren't on AAA roster and there's no duty to promote them or return them.

We lost Junior Soto.

We lose Ivan Castillo.

(yawn)

We selected LHP Robert Orlan from Nationals

I must admit, after the Indians moved Castro and Merryweather to 40 man I wasn't too concerned about it.

I would like to hold onto Kaminsky and Papi a bit longer and see but wouldn't have cried. But nobody selected them so I'm happy.

more activity in the Minor League Rule 5,

We lost:

Czech Catcher Martin Cervenka who was with Lynchburg. OF Junior Soto who had one really big day while doing little 95% of the time with Lake County, and SS Ivan Castillo who ranked behind only Gonzalez, Stamets, Chang, Castro and Wakamatsu.

We gained:

R. C. Orlan LHP. I'll look him up.

R.C. Orlan 27 year old Lefty. A career record of 13-18 and a WHIP of 1.374. He finally reached AA last summer and showed how ready he was for the promotion with his 5.21 ERA. In his career he strikes just over 1 per inning. Better as you'd hope against LH hitters; they had a line of 169/266/265 against him in 2017. Might give the Aeros a potential lefty to stock in their bullpen.

PIT: Jordan Milbrath, RHP, Indians

How He Can Stick: Milbrath dropped his arm slot and lit up radar guns with a 95-99 mph fastball this year. His control also got better as the season progressed. He has a chance to fill a low-leverage role in Pittsburgh's bullpen.

Chance To Stick: 50 percent

Ronny Rodriguez signed with Tigers today as minor league free agent. It's going to be easy not to confuse the Rodriguez's this year, only one left, right?